May 21 is National Memo Day, a day to remember that the word “memo” is short for “memorandum,” which is a Latin word meaning, “It must be remembered.” National Memo Day began in 1989 on Denver's KMJ radio. One thing to remember: When in a financial bind, consider bankruptcy.

Four Great Reasons

Every Texas bankruptcy is unique and has its own special circumstances. Many Texans, however, find themselves up against the same four reasons to consider personal bankruptcy:

1. Credit card debt — unsecured debt, from store cards, gasoline cards, bank cards and any other credit cards you have accumulated, may have ballooned to a level where you cannot possibly pay the debt off in the next five, ten or even 20 years
2. Foreclosure — Bankruptcy is a great way to stop foreclosure and save your home
3. Wage garnishment — If you owe back taxes and are already feeling the pinch of wage garnishment from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), you can benefit from filing for personal bankruptcy
4. Savaged Savings — Perhaps you helped out an extended family member, sapped your savings for a home emergency, or are on the brink of rupturing your retirement nest-egg; don't do it! Bankruptcy can preserve your capital and prevent further losses to your future financial stability

Who is Responsible?

Many Texans are proud to bear personal responsibility for all that affects their lives. Somehow, the emergency medical bills must be the family's fault, right? Somehow, having work hours rolled back or having a job eliminated is because of your work ethic, right?

Nonsense.

Today's economy is so complex and intertwined, you can almost never draw a straight line from a cause — yourself — to an immediate effect — financial straits. Medical bills may have arrived in years past with “surprise billing,” when you thought your health insurance covered everything. Suddenly you have a stack of bills from providers dating back to the 2010s and no way to pay them.

Employers expect loyalty from their employees but offer no loyalty in return. No company promises secure lifetime employment and a full pension anymore.

Many Texans hold down two or three jobs, making their tax withholding an accountant's nightmare. That can lead to incorrect withholding and, eventually, wage garnishment. Can you forgive yourself for hustling hard to provide for your family?

Lenders and the IRS rely on Texans' instinct to assume responsibility for a financial problem. When you push back, you often can find almost instantaneous relief.

Memo to Self

Positive self-talk is a great way to reset your emotional thermometer when you are having a bad day, week, or year. The Mayo Clinic offers some tips on self-talk, but you can also put down ideas in a memo to yourself:

• Identify negative thoughts like magnifying downsides and minimizing upsides of events
• Review positive moments from your day, such as compliments paid to you by coworkers or family members
• Stop personalizing general events, like highway traffic or a dip in the stock market; nobody is out to get you
• Avoid inflating every minor setback into a catastrophe
• Don't “should” on yourself — You always have choices and are an adult who can make choices
• View challenges as opportunities to grow

Fire It Off

Sometimes you need to psych yourself up to take action, especially when you feel overwhelmed by forces beyond your control. In business, you seldom want to fire off the memo you right in the heat of the moment.

Yet when building up nerve to deal with a situation, sometimes you need to fire it off — tell yourself to get moving on your personal bankruptcy. Make the first move by calling an experienced, compassionate bankruptcy lawyer.

Your opposing parties — credit card companies, the mortgage holder, the IRS — all have plenty of lawyers whose sole purpose is to extract money from you. You cannot face them without trained, experienced, professional legal help.

Defend yourself! Ally with a bankruptcy attorney today and start on your path to financial relief.

What does that memo to self look like? How about this:

To: My new, stronger self

From: My old, timid self

Re: Bankruptcy

Filing for bankruptcy can put an end to IRS wage garnishment, prevent foreclosure on my house, stop the constant erosion of my retirement accounts, and get me out from under credit card debt.

Filing for bankruptcy can put me back in control of my finances and my future. So call today! Now!

You may not be as famous or wealthy as Jim Carrey, but remember that Carrey wrote himself a $10 million check and dated it 10 years in hi future. He believed in himself and wrote that memo of sorts, then worked to make it happen.

You have to believe in yourself, too, so write that memo and act on it! Start by contacting us today at The Page Law Firm, or telephone our Frisco offices at 214-618-2101. Compare your situation to our four challenges listed here, then get the professional, experienced help you need to file for personal bankruptcy.